The DECISIVE3rd General Assembly took place on 17-19 October 2017. This 3rd project meeting started with a public conference hosted by the Hamburg University of Technology, one of the DECISIVE partners. The conference addressed ways to close the food loop in urban areas, by tackling three main topics:

the potential of food waste as bio-resource;

decentralised systems combining food waste and wastewater management;

closing the waste-food loop in urban farms.

The conference ended with a round table discussing the future of bio-waste recovery. Following that the DECISIVE partners were then invited to visit the eco-settlement of Lübeck-Flintenbreite.

In addition to partaking in a conference and study-visit, project partners discussed the project’s development, namely the micro-AD and SSR process specifications and thedecision-support tool. The latter will allow the assessment of the potential benefits of a decentralised bio-waste system by public authorities or waste companies. Moreover, a GIS-based tool will help waste managers with the selection of potential locations for treatment units and collection routes, based on the location of waste producers and potential users of digestate and energy, as well as local constraints linked with the regulation.

Lastly, the two pilot implementations were extensively discussed. These sites will demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of decentralised bio-waste handling systems in two different contexts:

In Lyon the plant will be implemented close to the Refarmer urban farm. It will treat about 50 tonnes per year of bio-waste collected in restaurants. This site will highlight potential synergies between urban farms and the DECISIVE system;

In Catalonia the unit will be implemented on a university campus, treating about 200 tonnes per year of bio-waste from both inhabitants and collective catering.